Responsibilities for Health & Safety

Assigning Responsibilities for Health & Safety

The Employer (Directors/General Manager)

Responsible for:

  • The overall occupational health and safety of the Company
  • Ensuring the Occupational Health and Safety Management Plan and policy are developed and implemented.
  • Monitoring the effectiveness of the Occupational Health and Safety Management Plan and policy.
  • Promoting the commitment of the Company  to excellence in occupational health and safety performance.
  • Reviewing all investigations comprehensively to ensure their accurate completion.

 

 

Employers’ key duties checklist    
Health & Safety Policy    
Is there an Health & Safety policy in place?
Is the Health & Safety policy signed by the senior executive?
Is the policy posted in prominent locations throughout the workplace?
Is the policy communicated to all employees on a regular basis?
Health & Safety responsibilities    
Does each manager, supervisor and employee have clearly defined Health & Safety responsibilities in their job description?    
Does the Health & Safety committee have clearly defined Health & Safety responsibilities?    
Are all management and employees aware that they need to report all incidents, accidents and hazards?    
Safe Systems of work (Method Statements)    
Have safe systems of work been developed and documented for the Health & Safety aspects of all work tasks, eg access and egress, electrical safety, first aid, heights, manual handling, visitors to the workplace, etc?
Do the systems state who does what when?
Are the systems regularly reviewed at management meetings?
Safe Work procedures
Is there a set of procedures for all work tasks?
Is Health & Safety integrated into every work procedure?
Are the procedures accessible to all work stations?
For work tasks where chemicals are used, is there a set of Material Safety Data Sheets located in prominent positions at relevant work stations?
For work tasks where personal protective equipment (PPE) is required, is there a set of instructions for use displayed in prominent positions at relevant work stations?
Are emergency procedures displayed in prominent positions at every work station?

 

 

Supervision    
Are managers and supervisors conducting regular safety inspections of work areas?
Are managers and supervisors provided with safety checklists detailing what they need to monitor?
Is there regular health monitoring of employees?
Are there investigations into all lost time and non- lost time injuries?
Are investigations documented?
Training
Are managers and supervisors inducting all new workers?
Does the induction include Health & Safety?
Is a system in place to identify each employee’s skill level and training needs?
Is a training plan in place?
Is there documented evidence that training has been provided?
Risk management systems
Is there a risk assessment plan?
Have risk assessments of existing tasks been carried out?
Are risk assessments on new tasks carried out?
Are risk assessments conducted prior to and after the purchase and installation of new equipment and systems?
Are all risk assessments documented?
Does the risk assessment process extend to contractor work?

 

Line Managers and Supervisors

Responsible for:

  • Implementing the occupational health and safety policy and management plan.
  • Ensuring compliance by all employees, contractors and visitors with regard to both the plan and policy.
  • Monitoring the effectiveness of the Occupational Health and Safety Plan.
  • Ensuring the occupational health and safety policy and plan are included in the planning phase of any new project.
  • Ensuring safe work practices are adhered to.
  • Ensuring all employees, contractors and visitors comply with the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Management Plan and occupational health and safety policy.

 

Sample line managers’ key duties checklist    
Safe Systems of work    
Do line managers conduct regular and planned Health & Safety inspections of their work area?
Do line managers use detailed checklists to verify compliance to Health & Safety systems and procedures?
Do line managers conduct periodic reviews to ensure that systems and procedures are adequate?
Do line managers conduct weekly checks to ensure compliance to systems and procedures?
Do line managers participate in accident and incident investigations relating to their area of supervision?
Do line managers present the findings of investigation results to their employees?
Training    
Does each line manager have documentary evidence regarding the skill level of each employee?
Does the documentary evidence include records of employee attendance at induction training, operational skills training and personal safety requirements training?

 

 

Supervision    
Do line managers ensure that employees are trained and educated to avoid accidents due to:
tampering with safety devices?
improper manual handling of goods?
failure or improper use of PPE?
failure to isolate machinery/equipment?
intoxicated employees?
failure to follow procedures?
inadequate machinery guarding?
defective tools/equipment?
poor housekeeping?
inadequate lighting?
failure to capture dust/fumes?
Dealing with contractors
Do line managers ensure that contractors report to them prior to starting a job?
Do line managers ensure contractors comply with organisational procedures?
Do line managers ensure contractors report to line managers at the end of a job?

Employees

Responsible for:

  • Ensuring they comply with the occupational health and safety policy, the Occupational Health and Safety Management Plan and all company safe work practices.
  • Ensuring the safety of themselves and others in the workplace.
  • Immediately reporting any unsafe condition, dangerous occurrence or injury to their supervisor.
  • Ensuring they are able to competently and safely perform any work they undertake.

 

 

Sample employees’ key duties checklist    
Complying with training    
Do new employees participate in induction training?
Do employees participate in training where special permits are required, eg crane operation, first aid, and forklift driving?
Do employees participate in ongoing training to keep up with new systems and procedures, eg changes to regulations, changes to codes of practice and changes to standards of operations?
Complying with procedures    
Are employees consulted in the process of developing organisational systems and procedures?
Does the organisation have a procedure that entitles employees to refuse to perform any work which is perceived to be unsafe or not to conform with any statutory authority’s regulations?
Do employees use relevant PPE, such as eye, hearing, foot, hand or other PPE, and do they comply with its requirements?
Are employees aware of their duty to comply with special permit conditions, eg crane operation, forklift driving and first aid, and other special permits as required by legislation?
Are employees performing only those tasks for which they were trained and qualified?
Do employees seek medical assistance for every injury at work, no matter how minor?

 

 

Are there any cases of employees affecting the health and safety of others, at work by:
smoking in a confined area shared by non- smoking workmates?
becoming intoxicated?
tampering with any safety devices, eg making machine guarding inoperative?
creating hazards at work, eg creating trip and fall hazards by not properly maintaining housekeeping?
Do employees comply with all work systems and procedures?
Are accidents occurring as a result of not following instructions?
Are employees reporting all accidents/incidents regardless of the cause and severity of injury?

 

Contractors

 

  1. Responsible for:
  2. Ensuring their safety plan and safe work method statements for the work to be undertaken are lodged with the Company before the commencement of any work, and complied with throughout the duration of the assignment.
  3. Adhering to the safe work practices and any other health and safety requirements of the Company.
  4. Ensuring they comply with all relevant occupational health and safety legislation and regulations.
  5. The immediate provision of information regarding any accident, incident or dangerous occurrence they become aware of during their assignment to the Company.
  1. Performing all work activities in accordance with occupational health and safety legislation, standards and criteria as agreed to by the Company.
  1. Providing safe tools, equipment, training and occupational health and safety policy and plans for its employees.
  2. Implementing occupational health and safety policy and plans that ensure the safety of people other than their own employees, including employees, visitors to the workplace and other contractors of the Company.

 

Sample checklist of duties in relation to contractors
Do the contractual arrangements between the parties clearly assign responsibility for all aspects of occupational health and safety in a manner that is consistent with the applicable laws?
Is the use by the contractor of sub-contractors addressed?
Has the contracting organisation (‘employer’) conducted a compulsory safety orientation program to ensure that the safety aspects of the work are understood?
Does the contract enable the contracting organisation to conduct safety inspections and audits of the contractor’s work and clearly provide for the measures that may be taken in the event that performance by the contractor is unsatisfactory?
Has the contracting organisation adequately trained any of its employees who will be involved in the supervision of contractors?
Does the contracting organisation have adequate record keeping systems to ensure that important documents relating to the work of contractors (such as permits to work, training records and contracts) are retained?

Health and Safety Representatives

Responsible for:

  1. Representing designated work groups when dealing with the Company on matters relating to occupational health and safety.
  2. Consulting with employees on a regular basis.
  3. Inspecting employees’ designated work area.
  4. Participating in all workplace accident and incident investigations.
  5. Participating in all change management discussions and developments that may affect the occupational health and safety of employees.

 

Sample health and safety representatives’ functions checklist    
Have employees elected Health and Safety representatives (HSRs) to represent their designated work groups?
Are HSRs elected to all designated work groups?
Do the HSRs have access to information about health and safety matters within the possession of the employer?
Do the HSRs formally consult with employees in their designated work groups at least monthly?
Do the HSRs inspect their designated work area to identify substandard working conditions at least monthly?
Are HSRs present at meetings between employees and employers when matters regarding health and safety are discussed?
Are these interviews minuted?
Do the employer and HSRs conduct health and safety meetings at least quarterly?
Are HSRs consulted about changes that may affect the health and safety of employees, including changes to processes, purchase of new equipment or machinery, purchase of any new or hazardous substances, and development of new Health & Safety policies and health and safety standards?
Do HSRs participate in all incident/accident investigations?

 

Health and Safety Committee

Responsible for:

  1. Participating in the formulation of occupational health and safety policies, plans, procedures and standards.
  2. Consulting with employees regarding occupational health and safety concerns.
  3. Consulting with management regarding employee occupational health and safety concerns, including changes to staffing levels and other operational alterations that may influence occupational health and safety.
  4. Conducting regular workplace inspections.

 

Sample health and safety committees’ functions checklist
Does the organisation have a joint employee and management Health & Safety committee?
Does the committee meet at least every three months?
Have the committee members been trained and accredited as Safety Committee members?
Are the committee’s authority and responsibilities clearly defined in writing?
Have these responsibilities been communicated by the employer to all employees?
Is there a system used which ensures that committee recommendations are received, considered and appropriately addressed?
Does the committee effectively participate in the formulation of Health & Safety policies, Health & Safety plans, Health & Safety procedures and Health & Safety standards?
Is the committee consulted about proposed changes to work processes and staffing arrangements which may impact on the health and safety of employees?
Does the committee have a system to process employee requests regarding Health & Safety concerns?
Does the committee have a system or process to provide feedback to employees regarding Health & Safety concerns?
Does the committee conduct planned safety inspections at least monthly?
Does the committee conduct formal risk assessments?
Is the committee consulted about any proposed change to work processes and staffing arrangements that may impact on the health and safety of employees?
Does the committee have a system for health and safety promotion?
Are there a least three health and safety topics promoted per year?
Are minutes of the committee meetings maintained and made available to all employees?

 

 

Health & Safety Manager

Responsible for:

  1. Working with all levels of the Company  to develop and implement occupational health and safety policy and plans, including risk management.
  2. Providing expert occupational health and safety advice.
  3. Keeping up to date with changes to occupational health and safety legislation and practice.

 

Sample health and safety managers’ responsibilities checklist
Health & Safety policies, procedures and safety instructions
Is the Health & Safety manager in conjunction with other managers and employees:
developing annual Health & Safety plans and Health & Safety objectives?
conducting regular safety inspections of the workplace?
conducting regular hazard identification and risk assessments, and developing risk control measures?
ensuring that hazards and unsafe conditions are reported and addressed?
ensuring severe accidents are investigated, and investigation results are implemented?
producing monthly Health & Safety reports to management?
ensuring that risk assessment of plant is carried out at the design and commissioning stages?
developing safety training programs for managers and employees?
participating in the Health & Safety committee meetings?
conducting contractor safety compliance monitoring?
ensuring maintenance of first aid records?
ensuring maintenance of rehabilitation records?
ensuring maintenance of risk assessment records?
monitoring employees’ compliance to personal protective equipment requirements?
Health & Safety advice and legislation
Is the Health & Safety manager providing expert advice?
Is the Health & Safety manager keeping up to date with changes in legislation?
This information has been compiled using extracts from our partner sites health and safety manual, the full 200 page manual is available HERE

 Copyright buildersafety 2013